Obscure Blood

Chapter Eleven

It took four days for Bob to reach his boiling point. He was ready to have it out with Octa, but the man wasn't even talking to him. Walking into Octa's room one morning as he was getting ready, Bob exclaimed with frustration, "I want revenge!"

Octa didn't react as he combed his hair. He was used to his partner's frustrations. "Bob, I'll kill you," he said, looking straight into Bob's eyes through the mirror. Ignoring Bob, who opened his mouth to speak, Octa made his way out of the room and down the stairs, hands in his pockets.

Bob was furious. He quickly followed Octa and stood at the top of the stairs, watching Octa silently goad him as he went down with his hands shoved into his pockets. He wanted to push him down so that every bone in Octa's body would break. Deep in thought, he didn't even notice Lucinda come out of the room.

"Good morning," Lucinda greeted him, slightly surprised to find him standing outside her bedroom. Bob had been giving Octa and Lucinda the silent treatment for a few days now, and didn't even bother to greet them back each morning, but it was still a habit.

"Whassup?" Bob murmured absent-mindedly as he turned to look at her. He noticed she had lines around her eyes and forehead. His cop instincts never failed to make him notice everything different about someone, even when he didn't want to.

Pursing her lips at his reply, Lucinda walked to the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind her. I can't believe how shameless he is. Just standing there as if he's king of the house, eating everything out of the fridge and not even contributing anything, Lucinda thought angrily as she locked the door.

Bob had registered the anger on Lucinda's face. He knew she thought of him as just a freeloader, who was just there to eat their food and lounge around the house. Conveniently, they forget that I pay them one fifty a month just so I can live with them, Bob fumed. Maybe I should just poison her so she doesn't keep complaining to Octa that I don't do anything to help them. Shaking his head at the thought, Bob stalked off to his room.

Soon freshened up, Lucinda made her way downstairs to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Rummaging around the cupboards for a bowl, she heard the sound of a door closing and turned as Octa walked into the kitchen.

"Good morning, sunny moon!" he said and made his way to his wife and gave her a kiss.

"Good morning. Where did you just come from?" she asked, kissing him back.

"Had to get some stuff out of the car," Octa said as he sat down on a chair.

Lucinda nodded and turned back to her rummaging. Octa gazed at her as she found the bowl and rather firmly cracked a few eggs against its sides. He knew she had something on her mind. A few minutes later, she slammed the bowl of eggs she was whisking down on the counter and turned to Octa, who was waiting expectantly.

"We need to tell him to leave the house," she said, keeping her voice low.

Octa's smile disappeared. He knew this was coming.

"You heard him last time. You know his history. He even once hurt his former roommate for snitching on him." Her gaze flickered toward the kitchen door, as if, perhaps, Bob might walk in at any moment. She knew Bob had once stolen a bag of cocaine from a drug dealer during an arrest.

Octa took a deep breath. "You don't have to worry, love. I talked to him yesterday and told him that he has until next Monday to find a new place. After that, he won't be our problem."

Lucinda visibly relaxed. "I'm glad you finally talked to him."

Octa nodded. "Bob is complex. He doesn't really mean any harm, but the man sometimes forgets that his actions can have far bigger effects than he intends. In his mind, what he's doing is right, so he becomes convinced."